Akiba was a shepherd until he was forty years old. He saw a stone which had been worn smooth by the action of water. He said, "if even a stone can be changed by the constant action of the water, then I can learn Torah by constant study."

Akiba's wife then gave him permission to go to the rabbinical academy in Babylonia for seven years.

When the seven years had passed, Akiba came home. As he was about to walk through the door, Akiba heard his wife say "my husband has been gone for seven years, but if it would help him to learn Torah I would gladly have him be gone for seven more."

So Akiba returned to the rabbinical academy. Seven years later when he returned home he was carried on the shoulders of his disciples.

The point of this story is that it is never too late to learn to program. Someone once asked me if
I want to be a "heads-down programmer" when I am 50. Well, the answer is "hell, yeah" and I am almost there!

Pumbeditha was the name of a famous rabbinical academy in Babylonia millenia ago. Students would come from all over to engage in daily arcane debates about complex rules. Is Perlmonks.org my Pumbeditha? I hope so.